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TIDAL POWER. What is tidal power?. Tidal power is a type of hydropower that converts the energy of a tide into electric energy or other useful types of energy. (Source: http://13seasmakingwaves.blogspot.com/2009/01/ongoing-series-current-status-of-tidal.html ). How does it work?.
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What is tidal power? • Tidal power is a type of hydropower that converts the energy of a tide into electric energy or other useful types of energy. (Source: http://13seasmakingwaves.blogspot.com/2009/01/ongoing-series-current-status-of-tidal.html)
How does it work? • The tidal power can be generated in different ways. • One of this ways is the tidal stream generator. It is a machine that extracts kinetic energy from moving masses of water, tides in particular. These machines look like underwater wind turbines (called, as well, tidal turbines) moved by the masses of water which move during the tide.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HAWT_and_VAWTs_in_operation_medium.gif) • Tidal stream generators are the cheapest and the least ecologically from all the other main forms of tidal power generation.
A tidal barrage is a structure that can capture the potential energy from the masses of water moving up and down in the bay because of the tides. The use the difference in height between higher and lower tides. • The tidal barrages are the oldest forms of converting the tides energy into electricity. One of the first tidal barrages in the world is the Kislaya Guba Tidal Power Station, a 1.7 MW tidal power station in Russia, built in the early 1960’s.
(Source: http://hydroelectric-energy.blogspot.com/2010/12/tidal-power-generating-methods-of.html) (Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kislaya_Guba_map.png?uselang=de)
The dynamic tidal power is a new and untested method of generating electricity by using both the kinetic and the potential energy from the tides. • The concept was invented and patented in 1997 by Dutch engineers: Kees Hulsbergen and Rob Steijn. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DTP_T_dam_top-down_view.jpg)
What are the advantages? • Tidal power has potential for future electricity generation mostly because tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power. • Also, tidal power does not produce any sort of waste (neither greenhouse gases, nor other types of waste). • It is not expensive to maintain, once you built it.
What are the disadvantages? • It is very expensive to build a tidal barrage across an estuary or a bay and it affects the ecosystem over a wide area. • Tidal power provides power for only 10 hours each day. • There are only a few places all over the world where the tides are higher enough to be used in the production of electricity.
